Tobacco-supporting lath.



D. EAGLESON. TOBACCO SUPPORTING LATH.

APPLICATION FILED 33.20, 1912.

1,077,513; Patented N0v.4, 1913.

DANIEL EAGLESON, OF EAST GRA'NBY, CONNECTICUT.

TOBACCOSUPIPGETING LATI-L.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 4t, 1913.

Application filed Feb11 1ary;20,,1912. SerialNo. 678,905.

To all whom it mayv concern;

Be it known that I, DANIEL EAGLESON, a citizen of the United States, residing,v at East Granby, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tobacco- Supporting Lath, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device which is designed to receive and hold tobacco leaves so they will hang properly in the drying and curing shed.

It is common practice at the present time to pick prime leaves from tobacco plants raised in the open, and also to strip the leaves from the stalks of shade grown tobacco, and hang them in a shed while they are drying and curing. In order to e'lfect this economically and within the means of the grower, it is necessary to provide a simple and cheap device to which the tobacco leaves can be quickly fastened and held without danger of dropping off when the device is put up on or taken down from the racks in the shed, or being blown off by drafts of wind through the shed as the leaves become dried, and it is also essential that the device be so constructed that the leaves can be quickly removed therefrom after they have become cured.

The object of this invention is to provide a very simple and cheap device, which is durable and may be used over and over again, and which is so constructed that the leaves can be easily applied and securely held against accidental removal, and yet can be quickly removed when desired.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a side view, with a portion omitted from the middle, of a tobacco supporting lath which embodies this invention. Fig. 2 shows on larger scale a transverse section of the lath on the plane indicated by the dotted line 22 on Fig. l.

The lath illustrated is formed of a strip of sheet iron or steel of suitable thickness. One edge of this strip is rolled over longitudinally so as to form a tubular body 3 for the purpose of giving the necessary rigidity to the structure. It is customary to have the bodies of these lath approximately four feet long. The other edge of the strip is cut so as to form a series of pointed hooks 4. There may be more or less of these hooks, but in practice itis common to provide ab ut f rty. .It is preferred to ha e one half ofthese hooks point one way, and. one halfpoint oppositely, as shown in Fig. 1 of are made of thin sheet metal and are pointed, they readily pierce the stems.

It is desirable to provide some means for holding the stems from accidentally dropping off of the books, which are so pointed as to insure easy removal of the leaves, particularly when the lath are passed up for hanging on the racks in the shed. The means shown consists of two wires 5, loosely held along the lower side of the tubular body of the lath by tongues of metal that are folded up so as to form holding and guiding loops 6 for the wires. Fastened to these longitudinally extending wires are depending wires 7 that are preferably bent at their lower ends so as to form an eye 8 opposite to and in line with the point of each of the hooks. The outer ends of the longitudinally extending wires may be bent down to form handles 9, and springs 10 may be arranged on these wires between the handles and the outer wire holding loops for the purpose of normally drawing the projecting wires so that the eyes will be adjacent to the points of the hooks.

When the leaves are to be thrust upon the hooks, the longitudinal wires are pressed inward against the push of the springs and are rotated so that the projecting wires extend upwardly as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. These may then be held in this position by engaging the handles at the ends of the longitudinal wires with tongues 11 which may be struck from the sides of the tubular body. With the wires in this position, the points of the hooks are exposed so that the stems can be easily thrust upon them. After a leaf has been thrust upon every hook, the wires are disengaged from the tongues and turned down, and then the springs will so control the parts that the eyes will press the stems upon the hooks and prevent them from falling ofi. hen it is desired to remove the leaves after they have become dried, the handles are thrust inward and turned up into engagement with the tongues so as to remove the eyes from in front of the points of the hooks. Then an operator can with one hand quickly remove all of the leaves from one side, and with the other hand. quickly remove all. of the leaves from the other side, by starting the hands at the outer ends of the lath and simply moving them toward each other, gathering in the leaves as the hands pass along the lath.

The invention claimed is:

1. A lath for supporting tobacco leaves formed of a strip of sheet metal With one edge of the strip punched so as to provide integral hooks and the other edge of the strip bent over to form a tubular body, and means movable along the body and extending adjacent to the points of the hooks for temporarily retaining the leaves thereon.

2. A lath for supporting; tobacco leaves,

formed of sheet metal and having a tubular body with integral hooks projecting from one side, Wires extending longitudinally of, the'body and havingportions that project transversely of the body into line With the points of the hooks, and springs normally holding the Wires With the transversely proiecting portions adj acentto the points of the hooks for retaining the leaves thereon.

DANIEL EAGLESON.

Witnesses:

JOSEPHINE M. STREMPFER,

HARRY R. WILLIAMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C." 

